Progress Now Action

The first ten organizations that respond to this email will receive a full registration to the Interfaith Alliance Conference: Mountains of Hope, New Frontiers of Religious Liberty. Please email me at dredwing@interfaithalliance.org before Wednesday, April 18 at noon, mountain time. Put SCHOLARSHIP in the subject line. Include the name and the contact information for the scholarship recipient.

I have full scholarships that I would like to give to Colorado and Wyoming non-profits. Please respond ASAP. And please read below, we have an extraordinary conference, incredible workshops and world-class speakers.



Donna Red Wing
First Freedom First Director
Senior Advisor for Program & Development
The Interfaith Alliance & The Interfaith Alliance Foundation


The Interfaith Alliance

11th Annual

National Leadership Gathering

Denver, CO - May 3-6, 2007

At the Omni Interlocken Hotel   Read More »

The Interfaith Alliance and The Interfaith Alliance/CO Present:

LEGISLATE AGAINST HATE BY '08
Rally at City & County Building Steps
Thursday, May 3rd
5:00 pm

Reverend Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, Mayor John Hickenlooper, Dr. Vincent Harding and more. Music by Members of the Spirituals Projects.

Bring your banner.
Rally Against Hate
And remember...
...JAMES BYRD MATTHEW SHEPARD BALBIR SINGH SODHI
VINCENT CHIN WAQAR HASAN RICKY BYRDSONG
VASUDEV PATEL SWARAN KAUR BHULLAR WON-JOON YOON
ANITA GORDON ANIL THAKUR THAO Q. PHAM JI-YE SUN
GARRY LEE SANDIP PATEL RAISUDDIN BHUIYAN
TYRA HUNTER HUANG CHEN MIZANUR RAHMAN
THUNG PHETAKOUNE NIREAH JOHNSON BRANDIE COLEMAN
GWEN ARAUJO MICHELLE ABDILL ROXANNA ELLIS...and so many more...

The National Leadership Gathering of the Interfaith Alliance
May 4-6
The Omni in Broomfield, Colorado
You Can Join Us At the Center of the Interfaith Universe...
Reverend Dr. C. Welton Gaddy
Rabbi Jack Moline
Reverend Dr. Amos Brown, Third Baptist, San Francisco
Barry Lynn, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State
Bob Edgar, National Council of Churches
Colorado Governor Bill Ritter

Inventive, Cut-to-the-Chase Workshops
Fabulous Food
Gorgeous Surroundings

Register now at www.interfaithalliance.org/NLG

Please help me bring in 260 Colorado signatures into our First Freedom First Campaign by midnight Sunday (26 November).
Do you care about religious liberty?
Do you believe in a democracy not a theocracy?
Then sign the petition right now! We would love to see a flurry of Colorado signatures.
www.firstfreedomfirst.org
Please help us get over the 40,000 signature mark right now!
Thank you.

Donna

ACT NOW and sign the petition

The founders of our nation believed that all Americans should have the right to worship according to their own beliefs, or not to worship at all. So strong was their commitment to religious freedom that they enshrined it in the first sentence of the Bill of Rights.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

This constitutional guarantee is often known as the "first freedom."

Religion is a deeply personal matter. Americans must be free to practice their religion without coercion. Government exists to provide for the general well-being of all people, and its workings must be independent of specific religious doctrines. Simply put, there must be a separation of church and state.

If we do not stand together as a nation, we stand to lose this fundamental freedom.

Of particular note to friends and colleagues are the "Respect All Families" and "Democracy NOT Theocracy" issues; profound and contemporary lenses for us to understand the importance of religious freedom.

Please join us in signing the First Freedom First petition at:

www.firstfreedomfirst.org

And send a message that we do care about America's First Freedom!

Thank you,

Donna Red Wing
dredwing@interfaithalliance.org


First Freedom First is a joint project of The Interfaith Alliance Foundation and Americans United for Separation of Church and State

This is my personal vision of social justice - and the community organizing to achieve it.

I imagine a world where the most marginalized among us; poor people, people of color, women, old people, children, gay and lesbian people, bisexual and transgender people, are accorded the same rights and benefits as anyone else. I imagine a world where women are treated with respect and with dignity and where children are free from sexual and physical abuse. I imagine a world where who you are and who you get to be is not diminished by bigotry, oppression or greed, a world where basic necessities are understood to be a right and not a privilege. I imagine a world where those basic necessities include not only adequate health care, shelter and food but also clean air, land and water, education, jobs, benefits and the right to engage, fully, within the democratic process.

I also believe that we have a responsibility to help support organizing toward a future that is realistic, achievable and visionary; a national vision that provides for a place of entry, at its core, to the most authentic stakeholders.

And I believe that the most impactful way to bring about change is through organizing: thoughtful, strategic and courageous organizing.

Nothing has more power than a group of people organizing towards social justice. My commitment to organizing is drawn from personal experience and power across a broad spectrum of difference and diversity including; peace work, faith-based work, advocacy for the rights of children, women's rights, religious freedom, gay rights, health advocacy, the rights of poor and working people and the right to full democratic participation. The concept of a civil society helps me to define, identify and work towards models of change that 1) encourage people to organize to change and shape public opinion and policy and, 2) that create spaces to explore that place of intersection that allows each actor to be recognized and respected at the table.

There must be a principal role, I believe, within our advocacy for justice, for ordinary people. The work must allow people to start where they are. We should encourage participation and leadership from those authentic voices. As advocates, donors and leaders, we must stay connected to those we propose to serve and maintain a process that is transparent and people-centered. We should explore the linkages between leadership and the grassroots experience. In fact, every successful social justice movement has relied on the experience and the power of its constituency base. We can learn a great deal from that base.

The struggle for equality is the essence of this work. As an individual, and as a player in a movement for social change, I must ask the questions, "What is it that we really want?" "What is our vision for social change?" And, "What must we concentrate on to move forward?"

Our objectives must, ultimately, move us towards that goal of equality. Both long and short-term objectives should focus on both the local and national levels as well as the effects on our own communities. There is often a dichotomy between the campaign and the community: looking outward and looking inward, working towards electoral, legislative and administrative victories and building strong grassroots community. I think that the dichotomy is a false one. We cannot have victory unless we have the groundswell of grassroots power to make it happen. Who can move us towards this vision of equality? Those who have the authority to make systemic change, the legislatures, the courts and the administrations and those with real connections and currency within those bodies are central to the universe of change-makers. We pressure them and we move them by identifying and engaging those who can persuade them. It is the 'ying' and the 'yang' of real power. As we build community, we build capacity and potential. We strengthen relationships and proficiency and, we equip organizers to become real actors within their landscape.

We can be powerful instruments of change. We have the potential to bring together research, policy, advocacy, community, constituency and other institutions and individuals. We can help convene the practitioners and the academics. We can bring together adversaries in search of intersections or common ground. We can help both build organizational and personal capacity. We can leverage our investments. And we can become, in the truest sense, partners in the struggle toward social justice.